Board Game Prototyping

andrewiconkerr

Hi all,

New to this forum, and to Board Game design.

I have 3 self-made games that I'm currently testing privately. However, soon I will need to relinquish my grip and let some friends and strangers play, and I'd like to have a decent prototype to do that with.

Does anyone have suggestions for places they've used to print custom cards sets, or custom boards? I am not looking to produce something with super-high quality artwork, as that only needs to happen at a later stage if necessary.

Or would you recommend more of a home made job?

The main components of all three games I'm toying with are just standard size cards with custom instructions on each.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks

Tuism

Hey guy!

First of all, kudos for getting stuff going! It's always good to see people who go beyond ideas in their head to take them into something tangible :)

You've now reminded me of the thing I was writing a while ago, about the things I've learned about producing a prototype while making them (I think I've made at least 10, at least in part), so I'll have to go and finish that off soon XD

But in the meanwhile:

1. Don't bother spending much money.
2. Make it as quickly as possible. Don't overspend time on meaningless tweaks.
3. Make sure the info is clear (use contrasts, make things a reasonable size)
4. How to make cards easily: Print on A4, cut them out, put them in magic cards + sleeves.
5. Printing at Jetline or Minuteman will suffice! Really don't overthink it.
6. Drawing by hand is fine, but think of what you're making - writing out 100 cards is simply tedious and draining. Lay them out even in Excel or Word and print and cut if you're going for quantity. A single board? Draw it if you can stay neat.

That's enough for now :) And do think of making Print and Play files so you can show people on the internet your work. Throw it far and wide! If you haven't been part of the board game design forums of boardgamegeek.com, you should be! Fantastic and focused community.

dislekcia

A prototype should always have a specific goal. If your goal is to test gameplay, who cares what it looks like? If people enjoy playing a game that's just scribbles on cardboard, then putting great art on it will only improve it. No amount of amazing art is going to make people enjoy a game that isn't intrinsically fun.

The community meetups are great places to test boardgames - not only are you guaranteed a level of interest in the game that's difficult to drum up elsewhere, but you'll also get really good feedback: Instead of people just saying that a thing is fun or not, or trying to tell you they enjoyed it when they didn't to make you feel good, the people at meetups make games too - so they know that constructive criticism is the way forward.

I've tested a boardgame at a meetup, it was literally just magic cards in sleeves with paper inserts, the feedback helped me make the game better and I've taken it through several rounds of testing since, each time the responses have been invaluable. I hazard that you're going to get the same info from the people on this forum that make more boardgames too ;)

andrewiconkerr

Thanks Tuism! That's very helpful, and I'll definitely try get something made asap!

I see that there's a meet up happening soon. Are these only for computer game demos, or are board games included?

[EDIT] dislekcia, you were too fast for me! I'll hopefully be able to attend a meet-up with a protoype in the near future. You guys have really inspired me to push on in this :)

Tuism

The community meetups are a great start, it often comes down to time whether or not you'll get to test your game or not. But just rounding people up, showing them things and then organising a different time to play is the best start :)

Then next is also looking at people who actually play boardgames more (makegamesSA is great but not everyone plays boardgames, and that's no fault of anyones) - I go to a couple of boardgaming gruops here and there, and usually it's easy to get people interested in testing your game with you - and what's important is that game dev views are vastly different from game consumer views, and it's good to get as wide a gamut of views as you can :)

Here's a collection of boardgaming groups I know of in Joburg, I wrote it to get people to KNOW each other and get out of their niche :) http://www.tuism.com/ultimate-johannesburg-boardgaming-guide/

dislekcia

andrewiconkerr said:

I see that there's a meet up happening soon. Are these only for computer game demos, or are board games included?

Yup, boardgames are more than welcome at meetups! At the Cape Town ones we usually have a bunch of time afterward where people move to tables in a foyer and play prototypes that people have brought with them. It won't all be boardgames, but they're certainly not out of place!

If you're in Cape Town there are a bunch of boardgaming groups that have been keen to help with testing new boardgame concepts in the past, @Tuism rightly points out how good they are to get to know if you want to keep making boardgames.

Tuism

@dislekcia hey are there the kind of organised and regular non-friends-only boardgaming groups in CT too? I'd like to add it to my collection of stuff as something to point Saffers generally at if they're interested in boardgames :)

dammit

Wizards hosts a boardgaming session on Thursday night at Stadium on Main in Claremont. You'll be competing against finished game products so be prepared to work hard to get attention there.

Otherwise, you can get hold of the UCT CLAWS group because a lot of them will be open to trying a new game. They're very friendly :)

I would also suggest not doing too much at this point in time with regards to printing. You just need a playable prototype. And you should get as many people playing it as often as possible because they way things go in your head is very different to what people will do with your rules.

Could you post some of your rules/design on the forums? Would love to take a look.

andrewiconkerr

I am based in CT, so will hopefully make it to one of these meetings sometime soon.

I have got a draft rules written up, but it needs refining before I post it :) When I'm happy with it (and when I've convinced my co-creator as well) I'll submit it for you guys.

dammit

andrewiconkerr said:

I am based in CT, so will hopefully make it to one of these meetings sometime soon.

I have got a draft rules written up, but it needs refining before I post it :) When I'm happy with it (and when I've convinced my co-creator as well) I'll submit it for you guys.

Post it before you're happy with it :P Because it should change after you've posted it too - and if you're too happy with your design, you might not be open to feedback that might improve the game*.

*I speak from experience here :P

Tuism

Yep yep! Post early, expect to change EVERYTHING. Noone learns in a vacuum, and we must all learn :)

mikethetike

We have a board games group that meets up every Thursday, so we'd love to test it. We also (try to) design games so we're more than keen.

Tuism

@makethelike who are you (guys), where are you from, more details? :)

andrewiconkerr

mikethetike said:

We have a board games group that meets up every Thursday, so we'd love to test it. We also (try to) design games so we're more than keen.

@mikethetike Agreed. Would be keen to meet up, but maybe only in the new year. Where do you guys meet? CT?